A homeless man in Illinois may have just been given the perfect opportunity to get back on his feet by winning the lottery -- literally. Pastor Greg Davis of United Pentecostal Church in Dekalb witnessed an obviously homeless man grinning over his winning ticket.

Davis, who had stopped at a gas station in Bloomington on Thursday night, said, “I was standing behind a man who was obviously homeless for a couple of different reasons you could tell he was certainly down on his luck.”

The man handed the clerk his ticket and asked what he had won. $50,000. “I thought he was having a heart attack,” Davis said. “First of all he wouldn’t say anything for a little bit he was just stunned and then he just started saying ‘Wow. Wow. Wow. Are you sure? $50,000.’” He was smiling from ear to ear.

His name is Dennis Mahurin, and he’s been homeless since 1978. He’s called the same tent home since the 90s, and friends describe him as a “very, very nice guy.” Emmarie Cross, who works at the Circle K where he bought his ticket says, “He’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met … I’ve been telling everybody, this couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”

Proving that his “nice guy” image isn’t just a façade, Mahurin says that he doesn’t plan to change much about his lifestyle with his winnings. He’d rather help out his friends. “With all the other homeless people around here, I’ve made up my mind,” he said. “I’m gonna give them each $100.”

Whether or not that is a wise financial move is debatable, but it’s obvious that he’s truly following his heart and doing what he can to help others. Faith in humanity restored.